Tragedy Strikes Mission Hospital in Ecuador

Gilber Gaibor was always alert at the window where the medicines are supplied, according to a co-worker

An HCJB Global Hands employee, Gilber Gaibor, died following an incident on Thursday, June 9, in Puyo on the edge of Ecuador’s Amazon rainforest. His death occurred in an ambulance en route to a hospital. Burial was the next day in the Puyo cemetery.

For the last two years, Gaibor, 32, worked full time at HCJB Global Hands’ Hospital Vozandes-Shell (known in Ecuador as Hospital Vozandes del Oriente or HVO), serving in the pharmacy, medical records and information.

A hospital co-worker referred to Gaibor as “a great friend and partner in the pharmacy´s activities” calling him “very cooperative.

Gaibor was stabbed during an apparent fight with his wife’s ex-companion in Puyo. An Ecuadorian news source reported that authorities are searching for Gaibor’s widow, having already detained her former companion following the early-morning altercation.

In comments solicited by HVO’s chaplain, colleagues also characterized Gaibor as “very honest in everything he did. He was characterized for always telling the truth.”

Hospital staff honored Gaibor with the title, “King of Christmas,” during last December’s holiday festivities. “He was loved by everybody, very generous,” wrote a co-worker. “Many times he paid from his own pocket the accounts of those who were very poor, or for his friends and family members.”

In addition, Gaibor used some of his earnings to help provide for several younger siblings after his parents divorced. According to his Facebook page, one of Gaibor’s interests was supporting children with cancer through an organization called Aquí Nadie se Rinde (No One Surrenders Here).

“He always was very polite with patients and colleagues,” said a hospital worker. “Everybody remembers him as compadre (endearing friend) because that was the way he used to address others.”